News

Departure is returning to Peacock with another mystery to solve.

the streamer has dropped the second season trailer of the intense conspiracy series which follows the ensuing investigation into a mysterious crash of a controversial new high-speed train traveling between Toronto and Chicago. 

Departure Season 2  is set to launch on Peacock on August 5.

All six episodes will drop at once, so you can get your binge on with this one.

"Departure season two follows Kendra Malley (Emmy(R) award winner Archie Panjabi) as she's recruited to investigate a new transportation disaster -the derailment of an experimental high-speed train in rural Michigan," reads the official logline.

"Pressure mounts for Kendra and her team to crack the puzzle as the small town reels in shock, and the world demands answers."

"Their investigation reveals a plethora of disconnected events and a range of potential suspects with believable motives: a disillusioned employee, a local anti-technology politician,...

Ben Platt, Tracee Ellis Ross, Daniel Dae Kim, Lola Kirke, Soko, Jermaine Fowler, Ayo Edebiri and Eric Lange have joined B.J. Novak’s new series, now titled “The Premise.”

Premiering on Sept. 16 on FX on Hulu, the half-hour anthology comes from executive producers Novak and Josh Lesher. The first installment’s five episodes — titled “Social Justice Sex Tape,” “Moment of Silence,” “The Ballad of Jesse Wheeler,” “The Commenter” and “Butt Plug” — cover police brutality, sex, gun violence, social media and more.

Previously announced cast include Lucas Hedges, Kaitlyn Dever, Jon Bernthal, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Ed Asner, George Wallace, Boyd Holbrook and Beau Bridges.

View first look images below.

Also in today’s TV news roundup:

Dates

Fuse announced that Season 3 of “Made From Scratch” will premiere on Sept. 15. The unscripted series takes viewers into the homes of artists as they cook their favorite childhood dishes with their families. Season 3 stars Becky G,...

In today’s TV news roundup, Netflix announced a premiere date for “Sneakerheads,” and YouTube announced a premiere date for the Paris Hilton Documentary, “This is Paris.”

Dates

Netflix has announced a Sept. 25 premiere date for “Sneakerheads,” a comedy series starring Allen Maldonado, Andrew Bachelor, Jearnest Corchado, Matthew Josten, Yaani King Mondschein, Justin Lee and Aja Evans. Maldonado plays Devin, a stay-at-home dad who enlists the help of shoe lovers to search for “Zeroes,” a difficult-to-find pair of shoes, after losing $5,000 on a money-making scheme. The show’s executive producers are Jay Longino, Inny Clemons, Justin Killion, Will Gluck, Richard Schwartz, Kevin Mann, Brendan Bragg, Jason Belleville, Rod Grable and Dave Meyers. View photos from the show below.

YouTube announced that the documentary following Paris Hilton, “This is Paris,” will be available starting Sept. 14 on the personality’s YouTube channel. The documentary will take a look at the life of the celebrity,...

Starlings Entertainment, a film financing and production company, is formally expanding into television with the official launch of Starlings Television, led by studio executive and producer Chris Philip. The company, headed by CEO Karine Martin and President Jeffrey W. Stentz, is coming off a successful investment in Paramount’s Elton John biopic, Rocketman.

Philip and Starlings have been collaborating since 2018 to develop, co-produce, and co-finance original scripted content, which the new division will focus on. It is behind two new scripted series. The first, Pandora, a Ya sci-fi drama starring Priscilla Quintana (Traffik), is set to premiere July 16 on the CW. Starlings recently closed a deal with Sony International to handle international distribution.

Starlings TV also has a six-episode first season order for Departure, starring Oscar winner Christopher Plummer and Emmy winner Archie Panjabi. Produced by Shaftesbury, the series will air on Global Television Network in Canada and NBC Universal Channels in select international territories.

Exclusive: Archie Panjabi and Christopher Plummer have been set to lead an ensemble cast in the event thriller Departure. A Canada/UK co-production, the six-part drama will air on Canada’s Global in 2019. Shaftesbury and Greenpoint Productions are producing in association with Corus Entertainment. Starlings Television will co-finance and oversee distribution worldwide.

Created by Vincent Shiao, the conspiracy series follows the mystery of a passenger plane that vanishes over the Atlantic Ocean. Principal photography has just begun in Toronto with filming also to take place in London.

Further cast includes Kris Holden-Ried (Vikings), Claire Forlani (Hawaii Five-o), Rebecca Liddiard (Frankie Drake Mysteries), Shazad Latif (Star Trek: Discovery), Tamara Duarte (Longmire), Peter Mensah (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Kristian Bruun (Orphan Black), Allan Hawco (Caught), Dougray Scott (Snatch), Sasha Roiz (Grimm), Mark Rendall (30 Days of Night), Dmitry Chepovetsky (Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol), Paris Jefferson (Sunset Contract), and more.

Departure centers on...

DVD Release Date: May 21, 2013

Price: DVD $39.98

Studio: Entertainment One

NBC’s TV show Saving Hope is a medical drama with a twist — a bit of supernatural.

The television series stars Erica Durance (TV’s Smallville) as Dr. Alex Reid, smart, beautiful surgeon at Toronto’s Hope Zion Hospital. She’s also engaged to marry chief of surgery Dr. Charlie Harris (Michael Shanks, TV’s Stargate), who ends up in a coma after a traffic accident.

And that’s where the supernatural comes in. While Dr. Reid and her fellow doctors try to save his life and the lives of the hospital’s other patients, Dr. Harris’ spirit roams the halls helping other spirits move on and trying to get back into his own body.

Saving Hope was created by Morwyn Brebner (TV’s Rookie Blue) and Malcolm MacRury (TV’s Deadwood).

The show got mixed reviews when it aired, but...

Exclusive: NBC is in negotiations to acquire upcoming Canadian medical drama series Saving Hope starring Erica Durance, Michael Shanks and Daniel Gillies for a summer run. Co-created and written by Malcolm MacRury and Morwyn Brebner, Saving Hope was inspired by a series of 2005 articles by Globe and Mail writer Ian Brown who spent eight weeks in Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital. It is described as a sexy, fast-paced drama set in a fictional Toronto hospital that follows the lives of the doctors and staff and the complicated decisions they make trying to save lives. Saving Hope, produced and distributed by Entertainment One, stars Michael Shanks (Stargate Sg-1) as Dr. Harris, chief surgeon who lies in a coma and wanders the wards in spirit form, Erica Durance (Smallville) as his fiancee and fellow surgeon, and Daniel Gillies (The Vampire Diaries) is a hot new surgeon. The premise is somewhat reminiscent of...

We're still basking in the afterglow of the phenomenal "Smallville" finale, but its stars are moving on.

Erica Durance, who played Lois Lane on seven seasons of "Smallville," has booked a new pilot. The Alberta native is sticking with her Canadian roots to work on "Saving Hope," a CTV pilot.

Scheduled to begin production June 22, "Saving Hope" comes from executive producer Ilana Frank, who is at the helm of "Rookie Blue," a Toronto-based cop drama that has crossed over to American audiences on ABC.

CTV's official description is below.

"Saving Hope centers on young, idealistic neonatal doctor Alyse Joy and her rival and one-time lover, flashy cancer surgeon Joel Gottlieb, as they take on the fundamental questions that define medicine today. Who gets to live, who gets to die, and why? The story goes into uncharted territory when the charismatic, inspiring and golden-tongued Chief of Surgery, Harris Coles, becomes a patient.

Toronto -- Veteran "24" helmer/executive producer Jon Cassar has been tapped to direct "The Sea Witches," a Canadian feature about female pirates.

The project, from Toronto producers Shaftesbury Films and MacRury Here Prods., has Malcolm MacRury ("Deadwood") writing the script, and Peter Meyboom, Scott Garvie, Christina Jennings and MacRury sharing producer credits.

No word on casting. Producers are eyeing Brazil or Australia as possible locations, and will pitch the project at the Ifp market in New York this month as part of the No Borders International Co-production Market to fill out financing.

Toronto -- Canadian producer Whizbang Films said Monday that it has hired Malcolm MacRury as the showrunner on its crime drama "Lawyers Guns and Money."

The 13-part series for Showcase Televsion, about an inner-city insurance adjuster who ferrets out scams amid the criminal underworld, will star Clark Johnson and Luke Kirby.

On Monday, Showcase parent Canwest Global also confirmed it will pick up "Shattered," another cop drama from E1 Television. "Shattered" will be directed by Bobby Roth ("Prison Break").

Montreal -- The latest round of homegrown pilot orders from Canwest Broadcasting includes a drama about an addiction counselor facing a breakdown and one about a police forensic team borne of one man's multiple-personality disorder.

Toronto-based Canwest ordered four drama pilots, including "Clean," a show about a rehab counselor close to checking himself in. Playwright Adam Pettle penned the pilot from Toronto-based producer House of Films and Four Seasons Prods.

Canwest also commissioned a pilot for "Shattered," a drama about a reclusive cop who employs his multiple-personality disorder to solve crimes. Rick Drew ("Lonesome Dove") wrote the pilot, to be produced by Force Four Films and Blueprint Film and Television.

Also getting the green light is "Lawyers, Guns & Money," a drama from Whizbang Films and writer Malcolm MacRury that follows an insurance adjuster who investigates scams and the criminal underworld in Hamilton.

And Canwest commissioned Prodigy Pictures to produce a pilot for "Lost Girl,...